This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the rate of dispensing liquids; more particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for maximizing the dispensing rate of liquids, and controllably reducing the flow rate to zero as a predetermined mass of liquid has been dispensed. The invention is particularly applicable to systems wherein bulk quantities of liquid are formed by mixing predetermined liquids together into a single container, as for example by preparing five-gallon containers with paint having predetermined color characteristics. In such systems it is expedient to partially fill a single container with predetermined quantities of base paint material, and various colorant additives, so as to achieve the proper bulk quantity of paint having the right color combination. If the quantity of a particular liquid component to be added is significant, it is desirable to dispense the quantity at a relatively high rate of flow, and when the dispensed quantity begins to reach the desired amount, to reduce the flow rate toward zero. If a number of different color combinations are to be dispensed into the same container, the container is sequentially filled from the several dispensing nozzles until the container becomes filled with the requisite quantity of each colorant.
If the receiving container is of a known size; i.e., five gallons, one gallon, etc., the amount of colorant and base material required for a complete filling of the container may be precalculated, and various dispensing devices may be arranged to provide from each dispenser the requisite volume of liquid for completely filling the container with the proper ratio of components.